Towards a Phenomenology of Agency in Performance The concept of agency has been much
debated recently in philosophy and cognitive science (Nahmias 2005; Pacherie
2007, 2011a, b). It is clearly an important concept in the study of music, but
the notion that performers are agents is foreign to much discussion of art
music, where agency has been accredited to the composer (Cone 1972) or to the
music itself (Maus 1991, 2005). The recent theory of performance advanced by
Godlovitch (Godlovitch 1998) has outlined a theory of performative agency.
However, his idea of agency does not
engage with performer’s experience. Therefore, this presentation develops a
concept of performative agency that is founded on a broad phenomenology. The aim of the survey is to examine the phenomenology of agency in performance through informed self-reflection. The audience has the opportunity to reflect on the experience of agency in performance. I will present the results from previous similar studies that I have conducted. The floor will then be open for the audience to relate their experiences, and to discuss the concepts and methodology of the research. |